The Switch is home to a huge amount of high quality indie games that cover every genre imaginable. Among them are a host of games that are trying something a little bit different. In this roundup we take a look at some of the wonderful oddities that have found a home on the console.
Gris
A platformer at heart, the key selling point of Gris is its
utterly stunning artistic design. The game is presented in the style of a delicate
water colour as you play a women as she explores her way through the visual
embodiment of various stages of grief. It’s quite short and the puzzles are not
the most taxing but the overall experience is exceptional and offers up
something refreshing and beautiful in a genre long in need of new ideas.
If you are looking for something to get lost in for a few
hours then there is little out there as effective and emotionally engaging as
Gris.
A Short Hike
The premise of A Short Hike is simple and follows a bird named
Claire trying to make it to the top of a mountain to get phone reception for an
important call she is expecting. The hike occurs in an open world park and
players are free to explore how they want with the only restriction being that
you can only go as high as the amount of feathers you have collected.
There’s a fair few distractions along the way and a host of
other animal characters to stop and chat to. The story is also far more
touching than you may be expecting. It’s
a very gentle game at heart with lots of great surprises and is guaranteed to
be the most relaxing thing on your Switch.
Kentucky Route
Zero
Perhaps the strangest game in this round up, Kentucky Route
Zero follows a group of travellers as they encounter all sorts of interesting
strangers on a hidden route running through caves beneath Kentucky. It’s a
dialogue driven adventure game with a heavy helping of surrealism on show. It’s
both very arty and very strange but the tale it tells is interesting and
thought provoking.
Much of the journey is spent cycling through dialogue
choices but these do effect what happens in the game and also act to allow
players to project their own fractured personalities onto it. Those looking for
a tradition point and click experience may be disappointed but the locations
you visit and characters you meet are such a highlight that it should keep you
engaged.
It’s certainly not a game that everyone will ‘get’ but for
those that really connect it will no doubt prove to be something that they
remember for a long time to come.
Katamaria Damacy
The original oddball game, Katamari Damacy is still as much
fun now as it was when it first appeared back on the PS2. The basic premise is
that you need to roll up stuff in order to create new stars and planets after
the king of the cosmos accidentally destroys them. Think of it as an
intergalactic dung beetle simulator.
In order to do this you start small, picking up tiny objects
that gradually expand your sphere bigger and bigger until you are eventually
rolling up people, cars and houses. This is done against a time limit with the
king of cosmos often berating you after each level for doing such a bad job.
There are extra characters to unlock and some different
takes on the rolling formulae such as having to get a ball as close to a
certain size as possible but the basic premise remains the same throughout over
the wide range of courses. If that sounds like your thing then look no further.
Sayonara Wild
Hearts
If you’ve ever wondered what a concept album turned into a
video game about a young women’s heart break would look like then wonder no
longer. The game changes constantly as you progress with some levels being as
short as 30 seconds. One level might have you flying through the sky while the
next may see you riding on a motor bike or shooting lasers as the neon tinged stages
twist and contort to the mood of the music playing.
It’s a game designed to be played through in one go in order
to get the best experience and offers something truly unique. Sayonara Wild
Hearts may be brief but it’s also a brilliant and highly replayable ride.
Thimbleweed Park
An 8-bit throwback to the days of Maniac Mansion, it’s fair
to say that there isn’t anything out there quite as odd as Thimbleweed Park. The
town is a strange place to visit with a host of oddball characters to meet and
the X-files-esque FBI investigation that takes place goes off in all sorts of
weird and wonderful ways. It may not quite be up there with the classics of
yesteryear but fans of the point and click genre will find much to like here.
We took a more detailed look at Thimbleweed Park here - https://www.retro101.co.uk/2017/11/thimbleweed-park-review-nintendo-switch.html
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